Automatic packing apparatus

ABSTRACT

An automatic packing apparatus usable at the check-out counter of a super market comprises a sack producing section, a goods introducing section, a sack top sealing section and a delivery section. A sack produced in the sack producing section is conveyed to the goods introducing section in which goods are introduced into the sack which is then conveyed to the sack top sealing section in which the loaded sack is sealed at the top to form a package of goods which in turn is conveyed to the delivery section. The apparatus eliminates the need for a sacker and simplifies the registering operation to thereby save labor.

Okubo et a1.

Jan. 7, 1975 AUTOMATIC PACKING APPARATUS Inventors: Kei Okuho, Neyagawa;Toshio Saito,

Kobe; Kazunori Ueda, Neyagawa, all of Japan Assignees: MatsushitaElectric Industrial Co.,

Ltd.; The DaiEl Inc., both of Osaka, Japan Filed: Feb. 6, 1973 Appl.No.: 330,022

Foreign Application Priority Data Feb. 7, 1972 Japan 47-13724 July 27,1972 Japan 47-75777 July 27, 1972 Japan 47-75778 July 27, 1972 Japan47-75779 July 27, 1972 Japan 47-75780 July 28, 1972 Japan 47-76174 Aug.18, 1972 Japan 47-83028 Aug. 18, 1972 Japan 47-83029 Augv 18, 1972 Japan47-83030 Aug. 21, 1972 Japan 47-83901 Aug. 22, 1972 Japan 47-84295 Aug.22, 1972 Japan 47-84296 Aug. 23, 1972 Japan 47-84840 U.S. Cl 53/183,53/187, 53/378, 53/384 Int. Cl. B65b 9/10, B65b 5/2, B65b 43/26 Field ofSearch 53/28, 183, 187, 188, 266, 53/371, 373, 378, 379, 384, 386

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,909,319 5/1933 Taylor53/371 X 2,847,806 8/1958 Wang 53/183 X 2,997,831 8/1961 Neuendorf et a153/187 X 3,228,167 1/1966 Schmidt 53/266 X 3,417,543 12/1968 Jones53/373 X 3,607,574 9/1971 Satake 53/183 X 3,619,968 11/1971 Kapare .153/187 X 3,673,765 7/1972 Dohmeierm, 53/187 3,699,746 10/1972 Titchenal53/187 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 1,079,910 8/1967 Great Britain53/386 Primary Examiner-Robert L. Spruill Attorney, Agent, orFirm-Stevens, Davis, Miller & Mosher 1 1 ABSTRACT An automatic packingapparatus usable at the checkout counter of a super market comprises asack producing section, a goods introducing section, a sack top sealingsection and a delivery section. A sack produced in the sack producingsection is conveyed to the goods introducing section in which goods areintroduced into the sack which is then conveyed to the sack top sealingsection in which the loaded sack is sealed at the top to form a packageof goods which in turn is conveyed to the delivery section. Theapparatus eliminates the need for a saeker and simplifies theregistering operation to thereby save labor.

9 Claims, 32 Drawing Figures PATENTEUJA I 3.859.062.

saw UZBF 17,

FIG. 4

PATENTED JAN 71975 SHEET 030E 17 PATENTEU 71975 3.859.062

SHEET UHF 17 PATENTED 71975 3,859,062

" SHEET USOF 17 FIG. IO 70 I I umv so 3 5.8 5a

PATENTEDJAN 1859,062 SHEET 08 OF 17 SHEET (NM 17 FIG. l4-2' PATENTEU J"71975 PATENTEU 71975 3.859.062

SHEET UBUF 17 PATENTEB JAN 7 i975 SHEET 09 0F 17 PATENTEUJA" W5 SHEET10UF 17 IIO ||2 Ill Pmmau ms SHEET llUF 17 PATENTEB 7 FIG. 24

PATENTED 71975 3,859,062

" sum 150$ 11 FIG. 26

PACKING TOTAL TIMEYREQUIRED L 'INITIATION BUTTON l TIME FOR INTRODUCTIONOF GOODS E L IPT OF MONEY e ooos IDITRODUCIIN T lME ICCHAINSLMIOVED TUBELIFTED gggu IN BOTTOM SEAL c G SECTION .TuB RELEASED TOP SEAL TOP SACKRELEASED SEALING SECTION DELIVERY CONVEYOR MOVED 'TOP FOLDING 2XII'RAILING TOP EDGE FOLDED LEADING TOPEDGE FOLDED PATENTED H9153.859.062

' SHEET 160E 17- AUTOMATIC PACKING APPARATUS BACKGROUND OF THEINVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to anautomatic packing apparatus which is capable of producing sacks from apacking material and packing various kinds of goods into respectivesacks to form packages of goods. The apparatus is particualrly, but notrestrictively, suited for use at the check-out counter of a supermarketwhere a sacker is needed in addition to a cashier.

2. Description of Prior Art In many supermarkets a customer picks uprequired goods into a basket and carries it to a check-out counter wherethe basket is placed on a table. A cashier will check the prices for thegoods and insert the prices into a registering machine while displacingthe goods from the basket into another empty one. A sacker will thenpick out the goods from the other basket and pack the goods into a sack.In the course of the operation, if the goods include wet goods such asfood, the sacker is required to preliminarily pack the wet goods into asmall sack. In a case where there is no sacker, the cashier is requiredto carry out all of the operations with the result that the customer iskept waiting for her goods for a long time.

Some supermarkets employ a procedure in which the goods checked by acashier are placed on a conveyor so that the goods are conveyed to asacking position in which the customers are required to pack their goodsinto sacks by themselves. The packing position is required to havesufficient area to enable several customers to perform their packingoperations at the same time. In addition, the procedure isdisadvantageous in that sacks are laid out of control at the market.

In order to eliminate the problems discussed above, there has beendevised an automatic sacker in which sacks are produced and loaded sacksare sealed, both in a goods introducing section of the sacker. With thearrangement of this sacker, there are required a time for the sealing ofa loaded sack at the top thereof and for the delivery of the sealed sackand a time for the preparation of another sack under a goods inletopening in the machine. The procedure must be completed SUMMARY OF THEINVENTION The present ivention has as an object to provide an improvedapparatus for automatically packing goods which can be advantageouslyused in a supermarket to shorten the time required for registering andpacking at the check-out counter for thereby saving labor.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a method ofproducing sacks usable with'the apparatus discussed above.

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is providedpacking apparatus comprising means for producing sacks from a liquidimpermeable packing material such as plastic film, means for introducinggoods into each of said sacks, means for sealing the loaded sackadjacent the top thereof to pack the goods, means for delivering thepacked goods, and conveyor means supporting the sacks at a predeterminedpitch and operative in response to a packing initiation signal to conveythe sacks to succeeding processing positions.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is alsoprovided a method of producing sacks from a length of tube ofa filmmaterial, the tube having a substantially flat ribbon-like configurationwith opposite sides of the tube being inwardly folded into the thicknessof the ribbon and with the outer edges of each of the folded sides beingdisposed in close contacting relationship with each other, said methodcomprising the steps of forming a roll of the ribbon-like tube, feedingthe tube from the roll with the outer edges of each of the folded sidesbeing separated, lifting the tube through sealing and cutting means,stopping the tube when it is lifted a predetermined distance, andcausing said sealing and cutting means to seal and sever the tube toform a sack having opposite sides partially folded inwardly.

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the presentinvention will be apparent from the following description with referenceto the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of anembodiment of the automatic packing apparatus of the present invention;

FIGS. 2A and 2B are perspective views of large and small sacks producedand used by the apparatus of the invention;

FIG. 3 illustrates in diagrammatic longitudinal sectional side view theoutline of the apparatus of the in vention;

FIG. 4 illustrates in diagrammatic side elevation the arrangement in asack producing section of the apparatus of the invention;

FIG. 5 is a front elevational view of a part of the sack producingsection;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged side elevation of a part of the sack producingsection as viewed along line VI VI in FIG. 3;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged perspective illustration of a chuck unit as viewedin a direction indicated by an arrow VII in FIG. 5;

FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken along line VIII VIII in FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a top plan view of the chuck unit shown in FIG. 7;

FIG. 10 is a cross-section of the chuck unit taken along line X X inFIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is a partially chuck top plan view of tube pinching portions ofthe chunk unit;

FIG. 12 is an enlarged perspective view of the tube pinching portionsshown in FIG. 11;

FIG. 13 is an enlarged front view of a part of the sack producingsection shown in FIG. 5 illustrating the tube and separators;

FIGS. 14 1 (A) and (B) are fragmentary sections of a separator takenalong lines XIVA XIVA and XIVB XIVB in FIG. 13, respectively;

FIGS. 14 2 (E), (F), (G) and (H) are sections taken along lines XIVEXIVE, XIVF XIVG XIVG and XIVH XIVH in FIG. 13, respectively;

FIG. 15 is an enlarged perspective view of sealing and cutting meanswith a part being cut off;

FIG. 16 is a cross-sectional view of the sealing and cutting means shownin FIG.

FIG. 17 is a view taken along line XVII XVII in FIG. 16;

FIG. 18 is an electric circuit diagram employed in the sealing means;

FIG. 19 is a diagrammatic plan view of a sack conveyor illustrating theshapes of a sack in different stations;

FIG. 20 is a diagrammatic side elevational view of the conveyor shown inFIG. 19;

FIG. 21 is an enlarged perspective view of a guide for a conveyor chain;

FIG. 22 is a perspective view of a mechanism for actuating grippers onthe conveyor chains;

FIG. 23 is an enlarged side elevation of a gripper shown in FIG. 22;

FIG. 24 is a perspective view of a sack folding means;

FIGS. 25A and B are diagrammatical fragmentary views of the sack foldingmeans in different positions;

FIG. 26 is a diagrammatical illustration of the time schedule of theoperation of the apparatus;

FIG. 27 is a front elevation of a modifiled sack producing mechanism;

FIG. 28 is an enlarged top plan view of a modified chuck mechanism takenalong line XXVIII XXVIII in FIG. 27; and

FIG. 29 is a view similar to FIG. 24 but illustrating a modified sackfolding means.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 illustrates an embodiment ofthe apparatus of the present invention having a layout substantiallysimilar to that of one of the lanes heretofore employed in asupermarket. Namely, purchasers are caused to move in a directionindicated by an arrow Y along the side face of the apparatus remote fromthe side face thereof adjacent the counter and place on a table 4baskets Z filled with required goods. A cashier stands in front of thecounter as indicated by foot patterns 9 and removes by her left hand thegoods one after another from each basket Z while checking the price foreach of the goods and introduces the checked goods into the apparatusthrough either of inlet openings 2 and 3. The prices for the goods arekeyed-in into a register 6 by the right hand of the cahsier.

The inlet opening 2 is designed to receive small sacks 13a each having aheight L as shown in FIG. 2B, while the inlet opening 3 is adapted toreceive large sacks 13 each having a height L as shown in FIG. 2A. Aswill be apparent from FIGS. 2A and 2B, the sacks l3 and 13a are of thetype which have opposite side edge portions folded inwardly. The sacksare made from lengths of tubes of a liquid impermeable material such asa plastic film. The tubes are sealed by welding to form bottoms of thesacks l3 and 13a. In the case where the tubes are made from atransparent or translucent film, the tubes are preferably provided withnon-transparent bands so that resultant sacks are detected in theapparatus by means of a photo-electric tube. Alternatively, sacks may bedetected by means other than a photoelectric tube, such as, for example,a micro switch. In such an alternative case, the non-transparent bandsare unnecessary.

When all of the goods from a basket Z are introduced into the apparatus,the cashier will actuate a total key on the register 6 to know the sumof the prices for the goods. After the cashier receives money, she willpush a packing initiation push-button 5.

The apparatus has a pair of lines which include the inlet openings 2 and3 and which are operable independently from each other. In severalseconds from the actuation of the push-button 5, the goods are packed ina sack, i.e., the sack in which the goods are placed is sealed at itstop to form a package which is conveyed to one of the delivery positions11 and 12.

Adjacent the rearward or trailing end of the apparatus, the same isprovided with a work table 1 on which a purchaser may put her own basketor bag so as to place the package of goods therein. The sack formingtubes are prepared in the form of rolls 8 and 8a disposed under aregister table. A set of control means 10 for the apparatus is disposedbeneath the delivery position 11 and 12.

The general outline will then be described with reference to FIG. 3. Theapparatus is generally divided into four sections, i.e., a sackproducing section I, a goods introducing section II, a sack top sealingsection III and a delivery section IV. In the sack producing section I,predetermined lengths of tubes are drawn out of the rolls 8 and 8a andwelded to form bottoms for large and small sacks 13 and 13a. The tubesare then severed at places immediately after or upstream of the weldedportions to separate the sacks from the remaining lengths of tubes. Thethus produced sacks are conveyed to goods introducing section II inwhich the sacks are positioned under the inlet openings 2 and 3 withtheir tops held open and the bottoms supported by belt conveyors so asto facilitate insertion and removal of goods into and out of the sacksand allow the weight of the goods to be carried by the belt conveyor.The sacks with the goods therein will then be moved to the section IIIin which the sacks are sealed, by welding, substantially along their topedges to packages of goods which are then conveyed by belt conveyors tothe delivery section IV.

It will be appreciated that FIG. 3 illustrates only one of two sackproducing and packing lines included in the apparatus of the presentinvention. The difference between the two lines resides only in thedifference in the sizes or heights of the sack produced and sealed inthese lines.

The sack producing section I will be described in detail with referenceto FIGS. 4 through 18. FIG. 4 diagrammatically illustrates the paths oftravel of film tubes 13 and 13a for the large and small sacks I3 and 13ain the sack producing section. The tubes 13' and 13a are respectivelydrawn from the rolls of tubes 8 and 8a and moved around sets ofintermediate guide rollers 29 and 29a to seal and cutting means whichare generally indicated by 28 and 28a, respectively, and which are of aconventional type having heat source portions 24, 24a, spring-loadedpressing portions 25, 25a and well-known knives of a metal 26, 26a,respectively.

Sets of projectors and photoelectric tubes 30 and 300 are provided inthe paths of the tubes 13' and adjacent the rolls 8 and 8a respectively,to detect a lack of supply of the tubes from the rolls for informing anoperator of this fact. An empty roll may be replaced by another new rolland the leading end of the tube from the new roll will be connected tothe trailing end of the tube from the last, removed roll by anappropriate

1. A packing apparatus comprising means for producing sacks from aliquid impermeable packing material such as plastic film, means forintroducing goods into each of said sacks to load the sacks, means forsealing the loaded sacks adjacent the top thereof to pack the goods,means for delivering the packed goods, and conveyor means supporting thesacks at a predetermined pitch and operative in response to a packinginitiation signal to convey the sacks to processing positions, in whichsaid sack producing means comprises means for supplying lengths of atubular film material, means for lifting the tubular film material to apredetermind level at which the film material is supported at the topportion thereof by said conveyor means, and means for sealing andsevering the thus supported film material along predetermined linestransverse to an axis of the film material to form a sack, and whereinsaid film material is in the form of a tube having opposite sides foldedinwardly with the outer edges of each of the folded sides being disposedin close contacting relationship with each other, and in which saidlifting means includes a chuck mechanism equipped with means operativeto pinch the tube at the outer edges of the inwardly folded sidesthereof in such a manner that said outer edges are separated from eachother.
 2. A packing apparatus comprising means for producing sacks froma liquid impermeable packing material such as plastic film, means forintroducing goods into each of said sacks to load the sacks, means forsealing the loaded sacks adjacent the top thereof to pack the goods,means for delivering the packed goods, and conveyor means supporting thesacks at a predetermined pitch and operative in response to a packinginitiation signal to convey the sacks to processing positions, in whichsaid sack producing means comprises means for supplying lengths of atubular film material, means for lifting the tubular film material to apredetermined level at which the film material is supported at the topportion thereof by said conveyor meanS, and means for sealing andsevering the thus supported film material along predetermined linestransverse to an axis of the film material to form a sack, and whereinsaid film material is in the form of a tube having opposite sides foldedinwardly with the outer edges of each of the folded sides being disposedin close contacting relationship with each other, and in which saidlifting means includes a chuck mechanism operative to pinch the tube atthe outer edges of the inwardly folded sides thereof in such a mannerthat said outer edges are separated from each other, said chuckmechanism comprising a lever mechanism and a solenoid for actuating saidlever mechanism, said lever mechanism including a pair of lever members,said solenoid being operatively connected to said lever mechanism sothat said lever members are moved into and out of pinching engagementwith the outer edges of one of the inwardly folded sides of said tube.3. A packing apparatus according to claim 2, in which said chuckmechanism includes flexible cushioning elements adapted to pinch each ofthe outer edges of one of the inwardly folded sides of said tube.
 4. Apacking apparatus according to claim 2, in which said lever members arealways biased in such a direction as to cause one end thereof to bemoved to pinch said tube, and a cam means is provided so as to beactuated by said solenoid to operate said lever members against saidbias.
 5. A packing apparatus comprising means for producing sacks from aliquid impermeable packing material such as plastic film, means forintroducing goods into each of said sacks to load the sacks, means forsealing the loaded sacks adjacent the top thereof to pack the goods,means for delivering the packed goods, and conveyor means supporting thesacks at a predetermined pitch and operative in response to a packinginitiation signal to convey the sacks to processing positions, in whichsaid sack producing means comprises means for supplying lengths of atubular film material, means for lifting the tubular film material to apredetermined level at which the film material is supported at the topportion thereof by said conveyor means, and means for sealing andsevering the thus supported film material along predetermined linestransverse to an axis of the film material to form a sack, and whereinsaid film material is in the form of a tube having opposite sides foldedinwardly with the outer edges of each of the folded sides being disposedin close contacting relationship with each other, and in which saidlifting means includes a chuck mechanism operative to pinch the tube atthe outer edges of the inwardly folded sides thereof in such a mannerthat said outer edges are separated from each other, and furthercomprising a member disposed upstream of said chuck mechanism andextending into said tube between the opposite outer edges of each of theinwardly folded sides of said tube for separating said opposite edges,said separating member being so arranged that a part of said separatingmember adjacent the longitudianl axis of said tube is advanced furtherwith respect to the movement of said tube than the remaining part ofsaid separating member.
 6. A packing apparatus comprising means forproducing sacks from a liquid impermeable packing material such asplastic film, means for introducing goods into each of said sacks toload the sacks, means for sealing the loaded sacks adjacent the topthereof to pack the goods, means for delivering the packed goods, andconveyor means supporting the sacks at a predetermined pitch andoperative in response to a packing initiation signal to convey the sacksto processing positions, in which said sack producing means comprisesmeans for supplying lengths of a tubular film material, means forlifting the tubular film material to a predetermined level at which thefilm material is supported at the top portion thereof by said conveyormeans, and means for sealing and severing the thus supported filmmaterial along predetermined lines transverse to an axis of the filmmaterial to form a sack, and wherein said film material is in the formof a tube having opposite sides folded inwardly with the outer edges ofeach of the folded sides being disposed in close contacting relationshipwith each other, and in which said lifting means includes a chuckmechanism operative to pinch the tube at the outer edges of the inwardlyfolded sides thereof in such a manner that said outer edges areseparated from each other, said chuck mechanism comprising a pair ofchuck units interconnected by a bar member, one of said chuck unitsbeing guided by and movable along an upstanding guide post, the otherchuck unit being associated with a roller which is guided by and movablealong an upstanding channel member.
 7. A packing apparatus according toclaim 6, in which one of said chuck units is movable widthwise of saidtube so as to stretch the same in the widthwise direction thereof.
 8. Apacking apparatus comprising means for producing sacks from a liquidimpermeable packing material such as plastic film, means for introducinggoods into each of said sacks to load the sacks, means for sealing theloaded sacks adjacent the top thereof to pack the goods, means fordelivering the packed goods, and conveyor means supporting the sacks ata predetermined pitch and operative in response to a packing initiationsignal to convey the sacks to processing positions, in which said sackproducing means comprises means for supplying lengths of a tubular filmmaterial, means for lifting the tubular film material to a predeterminedlevel at which the film material is supported at the top portion thereofby said conveyor means, and means for sealing and severing the thussupported film material along predetermined lines transverse to an axisof the film material to form a sack, and wherein said film material isin the form of a tube having opposite sides folded inwardly with theouter edges of each of the folded sides being disposed in closecontacting relationship with each other, and in which said lifting meansincludes a chuck mechanism operative to pinch the tube at the outeredges of the inwardly folded sides thereof in such a manner that saidouter edges are separated from each other, said chuck mechanismincluding a pair of chuck units rigidly connected to each other, saidchuck units being threadably engaged with upstanding threaded shaftswhich are adapted to be driven to upwardly and downwardly move saidchuck units.
 9. A packing apparatus according to claim 8, in which saidchuck mechanism includes a pair of spaced connecting members extendingbetween and interconnecting said chuck units, each chuck unit includinga pair of lever members extending between said connecting members, apair of mutually engaging pivotable segments each connected to one ofsaid lever members, and a solenoid operatively connected to one of saidsegments.